Coast to coast
compliance
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that its 33rd Chair, Gary Gensler, will step down from the Commission effective at 12:00 pm on January 20, 2025. His tenure began on April 17, 2021, in the immediate aftermath of the GameStop market events. He steered the agency through a comprehensive rulemaking agenda aimed at strengthening the efficiency, resilience, and integrity of U.S. capital markets. Additionally, he supervised significant enforcement actions to hold wrongdoers accountable and secure billions in restitution for harmed investors.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is a remarkable agency. The staff and the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring that the markets work for investors and issuers alike. The staff comprises true public servants. It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.” -Gary Gensler
About Gary Gensler
Gary Gensler is the Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner and held senior roles in mergers & acquisitions, fixed income & currency trading, and firm-wide finance.
Gensler earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 1978 and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979.
From 1997 to 2001, he served as Assistant Secretary and Undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, playing a key role in financial policy. He also served as senior advisor to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes in the drafting of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
In 2009, Gensler became Chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he led major reforms to the $400 trillion swaps market under the Obama Administration.
Before joining the SEC, Gensler was a professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, co-director of MIT’s Fintech@CSAIL, and senior advisor to the MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative. He also chaired the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission from 2017 to 2019.
In recognition of his service, Gensler received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the U.S. Treasury’s highest honor. He has three daughters and is a native of Baltimore, Md..
Accomplishments
1. Treasury Markets: The SEC introduced rules to reduce costs and risks in the $28 trillion U.S. Treasury markets by promoting central clearing and narrowing broker-dealer registration exemptions.
2. Equity Markets: Updates to the National Market System made stock trading more efficient with narrower spreads and a one-day settlement cycle, improving investor protection and lowering costs.
3. Resiliency: Reforms to Form PF and money market funds increase market transparency and resilience, especially during stress events. These measures improved data quality and real-time reporting from private funds.
4. Corporate Governance: New rules were adopted to improve insider trading prevention, executive compensation clawbacks, and proxy voting.
5. Disclosure: The SEC enhanced cybersecurity and climate risk disclosures for public companies and SPACs to ensure better investor decision-making.
6. Accounting and Auditing: The PCAOB secured an agreement to inspect auditors of China-related firms and updated 18 interim standards, improving oversight in accounting and auditing.
7. Examinations and Enforcement: The SEC’s enforcement actions led to $21 billion in penalties and $2.7 billion returned to investors.
For more details regarding his tenure as SEC Chair, you can view the full press release here.
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